Rogers Centre - Buy Toronto Blue Jays tickets for Rogers Centre at TickCo.com! Enjoy Toronto Blue Jays Tickets for home games at Rogers Centre
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Rogers Centre /
Toronto Blue Jays
Most people forget
the first two MLB ballparks with retractable
roofs were in Canada. Montreal’s Olympic Stadium
featured a funky Kevlar-coated retractable cover
that finally became operational in 1987, but
Toronto’s SkyDome – now Rogers Centre – pioneered
a “hard” retractable roof, proposed by two
Canadian architects, Rod Robbie and Michael Allen.
SkyDome was also a giant step forward in anticipating what fans would expect from a ballpark: complete with a hotel and a restaurant, the SkyDome was a year-round destination years before other baseball officials realized the financial appeal of loading up a ballpark with additional attractions. (Just measure what Toronto carried out against what the White Sox settled with at U.S. Cellular Field, even though SkyDome opened two years earlier. U.S Cellular Field is a basic ballpark with few amenities or the qualities necessary to bring in fans when there’s not a game. The ballparks are contemporaries, but they are galaxies apart in almost every other way.)
And there is more to SkyDome engineering than just the roof: the grandstand part, the dugouts descend, and whole sections move when the facility’s use shifts from baseball to football. At 310 feet high (or 31 stories), it’s the tallest ballpark in the majors, but it’s still dwarfed by the landmark CN Tower next door, giving some proportion to the landscape.
To their credit, the Toronto Blue Jays and Rogers are trying to spice up and humanize the ballpark experience. Some of the problems with Rogers Centre simply can’t be changed to make it a great baseball venue. From the way it was explained to us, the engineering used to convert the facility from baseball to football makes it virtually impossible to install real grass and replace the FieldTurf. Still, we enjoyed our visit to Rogers Centre. The location simply can't be beat, with a slew of downtown attractions nearby as well as the city's vibrant Theatre District. Before the 2005 season, Rogers did make some changes to the ballpark, first changing the name from SkyDome to Rogers Centre, but more importantly Ted Rogers (finally, both the team and the ballpark have an engaged owner) announced further upgrades to the facility, including the removal of some seating and the widening of concourses. The most notable change occurred before the 2005 season when a new Jumbotron was installed in center field (shown below): the largest display board in North America (when installed; a new display in Dolphins Stadium in 2006 will surpass this) is 33 feet tall by 110 feet wide. Also added were new video boards on the outfield walls and a racetrack scoreboard between sections. The effect of these changes is stunning, adding some sorely needed color to a bland Rogers Centre décor.
In many ways Rogers Centre was a groundbreaking ballpark, correctly anticipating the trends that would resonate with baseball fans: retractable roof to let in and keep out the elements when appropriate; multiple restaurants overlooking the field; and a downtown location to add a layer of sophistication to the proceedings. In many ways SkyDome (as it was known as then) was ahead of its time when built; too bad the engineers creating this marvel didn't add the human touch -- an omission the Blue Jays are still working to address..
And
perhaps the most egregious shortcoming is the
inability to move around freely at a game. Rogers
Centre was designed before the retro craze
popularized open areas where fans can just stand
around and watch a game, so forget about grabbing
a beer and stretching your legs while viewing the
game from a different vantage point. There are no
escalators between the sections, so be prepared
for a really, really long hike if you’ve purchased
seats in the upper deck. Again, nothing the
current ownership can address.
Concessions Today the concessions are more varied, with new owners Rogers Communications promising to make more changes. The most unique food items are sold on the main level where you can find back-bacon sandwiches ($8.50, which seems a little spendy for back bacon) or kosher hot dogs for $4.25 with a potato latke ($3.75) on the side. The majority of the concession stands sell the same things: hot dogs (which, by the way, are quite good), Pizza Pizza pizza, Mr. Sub subs. Specialty offerings include Philly cheesesteaks (which seemed popular even with a price of $8.25), Icees, deli sandwiches, and veggie dogs. The beer selection includes some corporate brews (Bud, Bud Light) and local heroes (Labatt Blue, Alexander Keith’s, Moosehead). Though you may walk by it without realizing, there’s a larger bar, Fanatics, behind sections 121-122, serving a wider variety of beers, including Keith’s and Blue on tap, and Stella Artois and Guinness in a bottle. (Wine and malt beverages are also available.) It is a space that seems to symbolize all of Rogers Centre: the bar is perfectly nice, and the sitting area next to it features tables and multiple televisions showing the game, but its way too easy to walk by the whole thing and miss it completely. Be forewarned, the concessions are not uniformly distributed. Practically no concessions can be found behind the center-field stands, so you’ll need to take a hike should you buy seats there and want some food variety.
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